Two foreign nationals died after suffering suspected electrocution in the swimming pool of the Conrad Hotel in Bengaluru on Friday evening, while two men who tried to rescue them were injured, police said. The incident took place at the five-star hotel in Halasuru, on the third floor of the property.
The deceased have been identified as Alexander Maximilian Theiss, 57, a German national and Lufthansa crew member, and Juraj Horvat, 45, a Slovak national who worked as a project manager at IBM, according to the police. Both were at the hotel when the incident occurred.
Two other people sustained injuries while attempting to rescue the victims. They are Mathew Desantis, 41, an American national staying at the hotel, and Rahul Tiwari, 28, a pool attendant and lifeguard employed at the property. The injured men were taken to Manipal Hospital and were stated to be out of danger.
Vikram Amathe, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), confirmed the incident. The police have registered a case and begun an investigation into the circumstances that led to the suspected electrocution inside the swimming pool.
The incident places immediate focus on electrical safety in a high-occupancy hospitality facility, where pool users, staff and rescuers may be exposed to the same hazards during an emergency. The available police account does not establish how the suspected electrical fault occurred, whether any equipment malfunctioned or what safety systems were in place at the pool. Those details are expected to form part of the investigation.
The Conrad brand is part of Hilton Worldwide’s luxury portfolio, and the Bengaluru property is classified as a five-star luxury hotel. The pool is located on the hotel’s third floor, according to the police account. The deaths and injuries occurred during an attempted rescue, resulting in casualties among both guests and a hotel employee.
The police investigation is now the official next step in determining the sequence of events and the circumstances surrounding the suspected electrocution. Further details will depend on the findings of the case registered by the authorities.
